Projects — Technology and International Affairs
Information Environment Project
About the Project
The information environment is integral to democracy. This is the space where people process information to make sense of the world using tools from alphabets to artificial intelligence to produce outputs from the spoken word to virtual reality and whatever comes along in the future. Manipulation of the information environment threatens the legitimacy of democracy if citizens are increasingly unable to make free and informed decisions. Our understanding of this complex system is still emerging at the same time as conflicts within the information environment erode its integrity. In response, democracies around the world are increasing control over their national information ecosystems. But with little evidence to inform policymaking, they riskbacksliding into authoritarianism or having their interventions backfire as trust in public institutions is degraded by information pollution. Carnegie’s Information Environment Project is a multistakeholder effort to help policymakers understand the information environment, think through the impact of efforts to govern it, and identify promising interventions to foster democracy.
Programs
Technology and International Affairs
The Technology and International Affairs Program develops insights to address the governance challenges and large-scale risks of new technologies. Our experts identify actionable best practices and incentives for industry and government leaders on artificial intelligence, cyber threats, cloud security, countering influence operations, reducing the risk of biotechnologies, and ensuring global digital inclusion.
Our Team
Alicia Wanless
Senior Fellow, Technology and International Affairs, Director, Information Environment Project
Alicia Wanless is the director of the Information Environment Project.
Raluca Csernatoni
Fellow, Carnegie Europe
Csernatoni is a fellow at Carnegie Europe, where she specializes on European security and defense, as well as emerging disruptive technologies.
Gavin Wilde
Nonresident Fellow, Technology and International Affairs
Gavin Wilde is a nonresident fellow in the Technology and International Affairs Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He applies his expertise on Russia and information warfare to examine the strategic challenges posed by cyber and information operations, propaganda, and emerging technologies.
Jon Bateman
Senior Fellow and Co-Director, Technology and International Affairs Program
Jon Bateman is a senior fellow and co-director of the Technology and International Affairs Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Arthur Nelson
Co-Director, Technology and International Affairs Program
Arthur Nelson is co-director of Carnegie’s Technology and International Affairs Program.
Yoel Roth
Nonresident Scholar, Technology and International Affairs Program
Yoel Roth is a nonresident scholar in the Technology and International Affairs Program.
What We Do
Assessing National Information Ecosystems
The Information Environment Project is developing a framework for analyzing national information ecosystems over time.
Fostering Information Integrity
The Information Environment Project works to articulate a definition of information integrity that can be adopted by policymakers.
Assessing the State of Knowledge
The Information Environment Project builds on thePartnership for Countering Influence Operations, which worked to foster evidence-informed policymaking for the information environment.
Studying Conflict in the Information Environment
The Information Environment Project works to understand the relationship between information competition, conflict and governance.
Informing Stakeholder Response
The role of the information environment in democracy necessitates that any response is inherently multistakeholder, involving government, industry, civil society and citizens. The Information Environment Project works to understand the relationships between stakeholder types as well as between research and policymaking to identify and address gaps.
In the Media
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Institute for Research on the Information Environment
Given the scale required to speed up research to foster evidence-informed policymaking, nothing short of a multistakeholder equivalent of a European Center for Nuclear Research—or a CERN for the information environment—can address this challenge.
Thank you to our Supporters
Carnegie’s Information Environment Project (IEP) is made possible with support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation,the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Google, and Meta. Carnegie is wholly and solely responsible for the contents of its products, written or otherwise. We welcome conversations with new donors. All donations are subject to Carnegie’s donor policy review. We do not allow donors prior approval of drafts, influence on selection of project participants, or any influence over the findings and recommendations of work they may support.